On July 19th, the San Francisco Examiner ran an article written by Michela Allioto-Pier entitled "Help for those who need it." The article addresses the possibility of implementing Laura's Law in San Fransisco.
Laura's Law was passed in 2002 as a state law following the death of a mental health counselor at the hands of her client. The law allows counties to establish assisted outpatient treatment programs for the severely mentally ill and allows individuals along with treatment providers to recommend treatment for individuals unwilling or unable to seek treatment themselves. The law has been rarely used in California since it's inception.
The streets of San Francisco are chocked full of people needing treatment for severe and persistent mental illness. Because of current laws it is often near to impossible to get someone help unless they are voluntary or they are arrested through a 5150 hold. Various reasons make voluntary treatment in this population a rarity including drug and alcohol abuse, anosognosia(medically impaired awareness of illness), and denial of illness. There are simply not enough civil servants to advocate for these folks. Given treatment, lives can be saved.
Without implementation of Laura's Law in San Francisco, the options are few. Psychiatric beds are scarce and expensive. County teams given the task of allocating these beds have to be selective(in Santa Clara county it is the 24hr-care team). The guidelines for admission are strictly followed and discharge often comes before the client is sufficiently stabilized. Then, of course, there are the jails. Jail is not an option for treatment. Unfortunately, jails in this country now house more severely mentally ill than do the hospitals. When the incarcerated person is released, there is rarely a connection to treatment on follow-up.
Behavioral Health Court in San Francisco has been serving as a model for assisted outpatient treatment programs by connecting defendants to services within the community. The point behind implementing Laura's Law is that instead of sending severely mentally ill individuals to jail because they are a danger to self or others, there will be treatment plans and community options in place.
In order to not only save lives but to give hope to those individuals who most need it, time has come to bring Laura's Law to San Francisco.
